A potluck is a gathering of people where each participant is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group. Baptist Potluck is where we will be gathering for "food for thought" from Baptists and "food for the soul" from the Word of God.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A beautiful incident in the experience of Queen Victoria is worth remembering. It has been published and is unquestionably authentic. The Queen had attended a service in St. Paul’s Cathedral and had listened to a sermon that interested her greatly; then she asked her Chaplain if one could be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety. His answer was that he knew of no way that one could be absolutely sure.

This was published in the Court News and fell under the eye of a humble minister of the Gospel, John Townsend, an intimate friend of George Mueller, whose life of faith led to the founding of his well-known orphanages. This John Townsend was the father of the famous “Sister Abigail,” another Christian of extraordinary faith and service.

After reading of Queen Victoria’s question and the answer she received, John Townsend thought and prayed much about the matter, then sent the following note to the Queen:

“To her gracious Majesty, our beloved Queen Victoria, from one of her most humble subjects:

“With trembling hands, but heart-filled love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure now of our eternal life in the Home that Jesus went to prepare, may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10?

“These passages prove there is full assurance of salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe and accept His finished work.

“I sign myself, your servant for Jesus’ sake, John Townsend.”

John Townsend was not alone in praying about his letter to the Queen. He took others into his confidence, and much prayer from many hearts went up to God. In about a fortnight he received a modest-looking envelope containing the following letter:

“To John Townsend:

Your letter of recent date received and in reply would state that I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of Christ for me, and trust by God’s Grace to meet you in that Home of which He said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.’ (Signed) Victoria Guelph.”

Whether one is an earthly monarch or an inconspicuous, unknown person, the way of salvation and of eternal life is the same. The Scripture passages John Townsend commended to the reading of the Gracious Queen were these two: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10.

These passages, and many others, in the Word of God, pledge us His Word that one who, by simple faith, received His Son as Saviour has eternal life now and here. The Apostle John tells us that His Gospel was written “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His Name.” John 20:31.

Salvation by faith in Christ is repeatedly declared in the Scriptures to be the present possession not merely future, of those who believe. Thus the Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Phil
Robertson reaches the common folks while Max reaches out to the church folks.

They both teaches the false teaching of baptismal regeneration.

The entire Robertson
family is active with theWhite’s Ferry Road
Church of Christ,which meets just a few miles from the Duck Commander/Buck
Commander warehouse in this northeast Louisiana town of 13,000.

Max Lucado

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Max Lucado(born January 11,
1955) is a best-selling author and writer and preacher at Oak Hills Church
(formerly the Oak Hills Church of Christ) inSan Antonio, Texas. Lucado
has written almost 100 books with 80 million copies in print, including three
recipients of the Charles "Kip" JordonGold Medallion
Christian Book of the Year(Just
Like Jesus,In
the Grip of Grace, andWhen God Whispers Your
Name),[1]and
has also appeared regularly on several bestseller lists including theNew York Times Best Seller List..[2]After
serving as the senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, TX for 20
years, Lucado announced in early 2007 that he was stepping down due to health
concerns related toatrial fibrillation.[3]Lucado
has since resumed the more limited ministry role of writing and preaching at
Oak Hills with co-pastor Randy Frazee, formerly ofWillow Creek Community
Churchof
South Barrington, IL.

NOTE their teachings in red below, JNH

Doctrine
of Salvation (Soteriology)

Churches of Christ are strongly anti-Calvinistin their understanding ofsalvationand generally present conversion as
"obedience to the proclaimed facts of the gospel rather than as the result
of an emotional, Spirit-initiated conversion".[18]:215Churches of Christ hold the view that
humans of accountable age are lost because of theirsins.[10]:124These lost souls can be redeemed
becauseJesus Christ,
the Son of God, offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice.[10]:124Children too young to understand right
from wrong, and make a conscious choice between the two, are believed to be
innocent of sin.[8]:107[10]:124The age when this occurs is generally
believed to be around 13, although it varies based on maturity.[8]:107

Churches of Christ generally teach that the process of salvation
involves the following steps:[1]

Beginning in the 1960s, many preachers began placing more emphasis
on the role ofgracein salvation, instead of focusing
exclusively on implementing all of the New Testament commands and examples.[51]:152,153This was not an entirely new approach,
as others had actively "affirmed a theology of free and unmerited
grace", but it did represent a change of emphasis with grace becoming
"a theme that would increasingly define this tradition".[51]:153

Baptism

Baptismhas been recognized as an important
rite throughout thehistoryof
theChristian Church,[58]:11but Christian groups differ over the
manner in which baptism is administered,[58]:11the meaning and significance of
baptism,[58]:11its role in salvation,[58]:12and who is a candidate for baptism.[58]:12

Baptism in Churches of Christ is performed only bybodily immersion,[8]:107[10]:124based on theKoine Greekverbβαπτίζω(baptizō) which is understood to mean
to dip, immerse, submerge or plunge.[1][11]:313–314[14]:45–46[58]:139[59]:22Immersion is seen as more closely
conforming to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus than other modes of
baptism.[1][11]:314–316[58]:140Churches of Christ argue that
historically immersion was the mode used in thefirst century, and that pouring and
sprinkling later emerged as secondary modes when immersion was not possible.[58]:140Over time these secondary modes came
to replace immersion.[58]:140Only those mentally capable of belief
and repentance are baptized (i.e., infant baptism is not practiced because the
New Testament has no precedent for it).[1][10]:124[11]:318–319[43]:195

Churches of Christ have historically had the most conservative
position on baptism among the various branches of theRestoration Movement, understanding
baptism by immersion to be a necessary part of conversion.[60]:61The most significant disagreements
concerned the extent to which a correct understanding of the role of baptism is
necessary for its validity.[60]:61David Lipscombconsistently argued that if a believer
was baptized out of a desire to obey God, the baptism was valid, even if the
individual did not fully understand the role baptism plays in salvation.[60]:61Austin McGaryargued strongly that to be valid, the
convert must also understand that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.[60]:62McGary's view became the prevailing
one in the early 20th century, but the approach advocated by Lipscomb never
totally disappeared.[60]:62More recently, the rise of theInternational Churches of Christhas caused
some to reexamine the issue.[60]:66

Churches of Christ consistently teach that in baptism a believer
surrenders his life in faith and obedience to God, and that God "by the
merits of Christ's blood, cleanses one from sin and truly changes the state of
the person from an alien to a citizen of God's kingdom. Baptism is not a human
work; it is the place where God does the work that only God can do."[60]:66Baptism is a passive act of faith
rather than a meritorious work; it "is a confession that a person has
nothing to offer God".[61]:112

While Churches of Christ do not describe baptism as a
"sacrament", their view of it can legitimately be described as
"sacramental".[59]:186[60]:66The term, "sacrament" comes
from the Latin, sacramentum which means "a thing set apart as holy".[62]The New Testament does not
differentiate certain acts of obedience from others as to bestow a special sort
of grace. An Augustinian cleric, Hugo of St. Victor (1096-1141) from Italian
Catholicism is responsible for classifying seven "sacraments".[62]They see the power of baptism coming
from God, who chose to use baptism as a vehicle, rather than from the water or
the act itself,[59]:186and understand baptism to be an
integral part of the conversion process, rather than as only a symbol of
conversion.[59]:184A recent trend is to emphasize the
transformational aspect of baptism: instead of describing it as nothing more
than a legal requirement or sign of something that happened in the past, it is
seen as "the event that places the believer 'into Christ' where God does
the ongoing work of transformation".[60]:66There is a minority that downplays the
importance of baptism in order to avoid sectarianism, but the broader trend is
to "reexamine the richness of the biblical teaching of baptism and to
reinforce its central and essential place in Christianity".[60]:66

Because of the belief that baptism is a necessary part ofsalvation, someBaptistshold that the Churches of Christ
endorse the doctrine ofbaptismal regeneration.[63]Members of the Churches of Christ
reject this, arguing that sincefaithandrepentanceare necessary, and that the cleansing
of sins is by the blood ofChristthrough the grace of God, baptism is
not an inherently redeeming ritual.[58]:133[63][64]:630,631One author describes the relationship
between faith and baptism this way, "Faithis thereason whya person is a child of God;baptismis thetime at whichone is incorporated into Christ and so
becomes a child of God" (italics are in the source).[43]:170Baptism is understood as a
confessional expression of faith and repentance,[43]:179–182rather than a "work" that
earns salvation.[43]:170